Each year thousands of families boat down the Middle Fork branch of the Illinois Vermilion River below an embankment that holds back 3.3 million cubic yards of toxic coal ash sludge stored in three large ponds. Coal ash pollution is leaching into the river, and the riverbank is eroding under the ponds. We examine what’s a stake in this investigative report.

ByJohnathan Hettinger/CU-CitizenAccess |September 26, 2017

In 2016, Monsanto released its dicamba-resistant soybeans in the company’s largest ever rollout of a new biotechnology.
But its accompanying herbicide – XtendiMaxTM herbicide with VaporGripTM Technology – was not approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency until several months later, leading some farmers to use other versions of the herbicide on their soybeans.

ByJohnathan Hettinger/CU-CitizenAccess |September 26, 2017

The Illinois Department of Agriculture has received 368 complaints so far in 2017, which are more alleged pesticide misuse complaints than in the previous three years combined, according to a review of a statewide database of complaints by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

ByJohnathan Hettinger/CU Citizen-Access |November 30, 2016

“We’re actually at the warmest part for the historical record for Illinois,” said State Climatologist Jim Angel, speaking to a crowd of about 60 at the Champaign Public Library on Tuesday. “This is a different climate for what our parents, grandparents or great grandparents would’ve experienced in Illinois.”

ByCorinne Ruff/CU-CitizenAccess.org |February 10, 2016

Keith Rohl remembers the day he was asked to lease the coal rights to his farmland in Homer, Illinois.

It was 2009, a wet year for the crops, when he was lined up at the grain elevator with his neighbors hearing about the proposed Bulldog Mine for the first time.

“The neighbors were all talking about, ‘You sell your coal rights, and you get to farm your land on top. You’re going to have all kinds of money and everything.’ And I thought ‘Boy, that sounds great to me, and I was ready to sign up,’ ” he said.

As a result of the Farm Bill passed by Congress a year ago, efforts to increase wildlife habitats and natural areas that filter fertilizer run-off will receive less funding and result in fewer acres of conserved land.

As of December, there were 9,770 acres set aside in Champaign County for a program in which the federal government rents land from farmers for conservation purposes.

By Robert Holly/CU-CitizenAccess.org — Thousands of agriculture groups and independent farmers – including many from Champaign and other central-Illinois counties – are using a public comment window to express concern over federally proposed water regulation. The proposed Waters of the U.S. rule is a joint-proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. The rule aims to clarify which bodies of water the two federal agencies can lawfully regulate. The agriculture industry has largely opposed the rule, as farmers argue it will impede on their operations through unnecessary and unclear regulation. “It’s very concerning,” said Lin Warfel, a corn and soybean farmer from just outside Tolono.

By Maisie Sackett / For CU-CitizenAccess.org — The city of Champaign has set a goal to be “a model for environmental sustainability.”

But it has found it is much easier to set the goal than reach it. Among the challenges are limited budgets, shortage of community participation and debates over approaches. “It’s a great goal, but we’re a long, long way from that,” said Lacey Rains Lowe who has been with the city six years and is now head of the Champaign Growing Greener Plan. Setting the goals

The city plans to call for improvements to energy efficiency in city buildings and increasing the availability of recycling, among other programs.

To help City Council achieve these goals, the Planning Department of Champaign started the Champaign Growing Greener Plan about a year ago. The plan has been focusing on improvements towards energy efficiency in facility buildings, storm water run off, transportation and more.

About CU-CitizenAccess.org

CU-CitizenAccess is a community online news and information project devoted to investigative and enterprise coverage of social, justice and economic issues in east central Illinois.

U.S. Congressman Danny Davis, Democrat, of District 7 has occupied his seat in the House of Representatives for over 20 years. Davis was re-elected to his seat on earlier this month – defeating his opponent Republican Craig Cameron by more than 80 percent of the votes.
And each year, Davis has one of the lowest campaign spending and contribution amounts of the Illinois representatives, spending anywhere from $300,000 to $600,000 and raising as little as $200,000 and as much as $600,000.

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State officials have conducted hundreds of complaint-based nursing home inspections across central Illinois since 2011.
In the seven Medicare-certified nursing homes in Champaign County alone, inspectors from the Illinois Department of Public Health conducted at least 114 complaint-based inspections.

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In the past four months, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District shut down seven restaurants because of issues that put customers at risk. But it also shut down six food establishments because owners or managers did not pay health permit fees or submit a permit application.